Construction Employment Crept Up 33,000 in January

by David Flaherty | 17 February 2026 8:47 pm

Construction employment totaled 8.328 million in January, an increase of 33,000 from December and 44,000 (0.5 percent) year-over-year (y/y), according to Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Residential construction employment rose by 5,900 in January (up by 300 at residential building firms and 5,600 at specialty contractors) but shrank by 43,600 (-1.3 percent) y/y. Nonresidential construction employment rose by 27,900 for the month (up by 3,600 at building firms and 25,100 at specialty trade contractors, down by 800 at heavy and civil engineering construction firms) and by 87,700 (1.8 percent) y/y. Labor costs for construction firms outpaced other sectors: average hourly earnings (AHE) for production and nonsupervisory employees rose 3.8 percent y/y for the total private sector and 4.7 percent for construction (i.e., most craft and office workers). The industry’s AHE for production workers in January was $38.26 or 19.7 percent more than the overall private average of $31.95.

Source URL: https://www.metalconstructionnews.com/news/construction-employment-january-2026/

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